Why You Can’t Visit Your Doctor Virtually And Why That Might Be Changing

Most doctors today communicate with their patients the same way the Greek physician Galen did 2,000 years ago: one on one, in person.

Why is that?

One reason is unwise legislation.

Another is resistance to change by the American Medical Association and state medical societies.

A third reason is Medicare, whose payment practices tend to be copied by most employers and private insurers. But the biggest problem is that rank-and-file doctors have been unwilling to step into the modern age.

Technology has the potential to radically change the practice of medicine (and dentistry) and in the process improve outcomes and lower costs. The linked article is just one example.

Sadly one of the biggest barriers to change is usually the status quo. Entrenched power brokers, including insurance companies, hospitals and physicians like the way things are and fight to keep it that way. Just as taxi companies fight to keep Uber off the streets.

One simple example is tele-medicine (or tele-dentistry). The ability to consult with a physician immediately via the Internet gives patients a faster, less expensive, more convenient and better option that what they have now. Yet most jurisdictions require a local license to deliver care. In other words a physician licensed in Virginia cannot give advice to a patient sitting in front of a computer screen in Maryland.